GoodFuels

Benefits of Ethanol Outweigh the Costs

A group of agricultural executives heard about the real costs and benefits of renewable fuels during the Association of Equipment Manufacturers AgExecutive forum in St. Louis last week, and the bottom line according to American Farm Bureau senior economist Terry Francl is that the benefits ultimately outweigh the costs.

“The bottom line on the ethanol side is that although it has driven up the cost of things such as feed and food to a certain extent, for every extra dollar that consumers spend for food, they have reduced gasoline costs approximately $2. So its a win-win situation for consumers, and for that matter, taxpayers,” Francl says.

That is a great sound bite that bears repeating. For every extra dollar we are spending on food, we are saving two dollars on fuel costs. That means we are coming out a dollar ahead, thanks to ethanol!

As a general farm organization the represents both crop and livestock producers, the American Farm Bureau often has to walk a fine line on controversial issues in the ag sector, but Francl says they are trying to help the livestock producers understand that there are many other factors contributing to the higher feed costs and that renewable fuels are good for the farm sector overall.

Listen to an interview with Terry here.

Ag Secretary Talks Ethanol at Ag Exec Forum

At a meeting of agribusiness executives Thursday in St. Louis, Secretary of Agriculture Ed Schafer talked about the National Biofuels Action Plan released this week by USDA and DOE.

He called the plan “an essential road map that points out how we are going to meet the Renewable Fuels Standard” laying out ways to use different feedstocks, what needs to be done to commercialize second generation biofuels, and the infrastructure needed.

The plan also talks about the potential for higher ethanol blends and I asked Schafer about that in a brief press availability after his address to the Association of Equipment Manufacturers AgExecutive Forum. “As we look at blends, it becomes apparent that a ten percent blend can be moved up to a 12 or 15 percent blend pretty easily without any equipment change or pipeline change or storage capacity change and it makes some sense to move those up,” Schafer said.

Schafer says they are looking at a long-term study of big and small engine blends of 20 percent or higher. “We need to make sure that we check environmental and performance standards,” Schafer said. “We’ve got a long term effort to check higher blends.”

The overall importance of ethanol was clear at the forum where a number of presentations directed to executives of the major farm equipment companies focused on biofuels. Even those speakers who were addressing other topics ended up discussing ethanol and its impact on the agriculture industry. As Schafer told the executives, “The continued development of the renewable fuels industry is critically important to the future growth of American agriculture” and that definitely includes the farm equipment industry.

Obama campaign on AgriTalk

With only 4 weeks until the election, the presidential race is certainly heating up. Both campaigns have made energy policy a priority, and now we’ll have a chance to hear specifics straight from the horse’s (or elephant’s!) mouth.

In a two-part presidential forum series, the Renewable Fuels Association is partnering with the popular rural and agricultural radio program AgriTalk to get each campaign’s take on ethanol and its role in this nation’s energy future.

Today, October 7, beginning at 11:30 a.m Eastern/10:30 a.m. Central, Heather Zichal, the top energy, environmental, and agricultural advisor to Senator Barack Obama’s campaign, will join AgriTalk host Mike Adams to discuss Senator Obama’s views on ethanol.

The RFA is continuing to work with Senator McCain’s campaign to determine a convenient time for a representative to discuss the Republican nominee’s stance on ethanol and energy. As soon as a time is announced, you’ll see it here on GoodFuels.

To find out where you can tune in to hear the interview or to listen in a live stream online, visit AgriTalk.

Be sure to tune in! This should be exciting to hear what the candidates think specifically about ethanol, particularly on the very day of the second presidential debate.